Stumpy and the Baby Brine Shrimp

Under The Sea

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2025
Messages
4
Reaction score
14
Location
Rexburg
What state or country do you live in
Idaho
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Stumpy is a Banggai Cardinal. He got his name because while only 2 days into quarantine, his cohort nipped his tailfins off. I accept responsibility. I bought the Banggai for the purpose of singling out a pair for breeding and knew the probability of aggression, I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly, but the stress of Q probably accelerated it.
He was timid from the start and I knew he probably wasn't going to emerge as an Alpha male or female. I hadn't seem him attempt to eat when the others were feeding.
After the incident, I isolated Stumpy then moved him to his own private Q tank.
Even in his private tank he didn't leave his "spot" and wouldn't eat. I assumed it was only a matter of time.
During this time I was starting to learn how to raise Baby Brine Shrimp for the (hopefully) future fry. For something that is supposed to be brain-dead easy, I'm glad I didn't wait until fry were on the way.
With my first successful batch of BBS, I decided to try dumping a few into Stumpy's tank. He hadn't eaten in 10 days. To my amazement he shot out of his "spot" and began racing around the tank scooping up the BBS. On the second dose of BBS I added a couple of frozen Mysis to see if he would move up, but he ignored them as he had been doing.
Thanks to the BBS, there is hope for Stumpy. Now I need to balance how much to feed him in his recovery without polluting the tank.
He is in a bare bottom 10 gallon tank, no copper, and a sponge filter.
I was doing TTM, but the amount of stress incurred during the rinse and change seemed to be a bit much for this fragile fish. I'll have to rely on suctioning out debris and water changes. At this point I'm more worried about Banggai Cardinal Iridovirus (BCIV) than Ich.
Stumpy's Future: If he continues to eat and regain his tail, I'll see if he mates up with another lone Banggai, Houdini. If he doesn't he may be put up for adoption to a new home in East Idaho. IF.

20250920_161803.jpg
 

TOP 10 Trending Threads

WHEN REEFING GETS TOUGH, WHAT KEEPS YOU MOST INVESTED?

  • My livestock depends on me, so I keep showing up for them

    Votes: 11 64.7%
  • I look for small signs that things are improving

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • I want to figure out what’s going wrong

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • I remind myself that rough stretches will pass...just keep reefing

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • I lean on other reefers for advice or encouragement

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I simplify, step back from tinkering, and give the tank time

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I want to keep going

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other (Post in the comments)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top
Home
Post thread…
Market
What's new